Continuing our campaign to vote for Victorian Gothic and Art Deco ensemble, along with the Oval Maidan as Mumbai's proposal for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, The GUIDE shares a few fascinating, lesser-known facts about the Gothic public buildings that form one side of this brilliant showcase of two distinct architectural styles
High Court: Built in Venetian Gothic style with General John Augustine Fuller’s designs, it has six storeys, a length of 562 feet and an overall height of 174 feet. It is surrounded by arcaded corridors.
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Old General Post Office:u00a0The Post Office design used Terracotta Broomhall tiles for its roof. These were preferred to slate and zinc as they were cooler and crows could not shift these tiles around!
Public Works Department Office: This building, was designed by Henry St Clair Wilkins who despite being in Europe was in sync with the drawings of the old General Post Office. He took great pains to harmonise it, in terms of style, structure, size, appeal and the materials used. It stands on the opposite side of the old Post Office.
Rajabai Tower: It took nine years to build and raise it to 280 feet in height with seven stories. It measures 120 feet above its neighbouring buildings and for a while was the tallest construction in the city.
University Buildings:u00a0Rudyard Kipling's father, John Lockwood Kipling, principal of Sir JJ School of Art, and his students helped in the complex and highly skilled artwork and carvings on the stone used across various structures within the complex
Old Secretariat: Being the first to be built in the line of Gothic buildings, Wilkins designed it as a narrow structure to allow sea breezes to penetrate every part of it; these were aided by airy spiral staircases at both ends.
theguide@mid-day.com
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